


Flying Angel Ranch

by WithywindlesDaughter



Series: Commissions [3]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Horse Sanctuary, Kili and Fili are not related, M/M, Mini-donks are really tiny, Romance, You Have Been Warned, baby horse birth, cow placenta, everything else is implied - Freeform, horse rescue, somebody has to scoop all that poop, this is a smut-free zone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-05-30 22:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6443710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WithywindlesDaughter/pseuds/WithywindlesDaughter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kili and his friend Gimli are roped into spending the day helping out at a horse rescue and sanctuary called The Flying Angel Ranch. He's up for a day of building fences but gets sidelined by a pair of blue eyes and flashing dimples.</p>
<p>A tale of shameless fluff and horses. </p>
<p>Lots and lots of horses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. “Fence Posts & Pink Gloves”

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mayyourbeardnevergrowthin](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=mayyourbeardnevergrowthin).



> This is for the lovely mayyourbeardnevergrowthin.

  
  
  
  
  


 

 

 

**Flying Angel Ranch**

**Ch 1: “Fence Posts & Pink Gloves”**

**for** **mayyourbeardnevergrowthin**

**by WithywindlesDaughter**

  
  
  
  
  


 

 

 

“That’s not real.”

_ “Yes it is! You weren’t even there. How can you even say that?” _

“It’s so tiny!”

“That’s what she said!”

Kili looked up at his friend and held up his middle finger. The thickly-built redhead just laughed at him, his grin splitting his beard and mustache and lighting-up his brown eyes.

_ “Is that Gimli?!” _

Kili signed. “Yes, that’s Gimli.” His “private” skype conversation was now destined to become public fodder.

_ “Put him on! I want to show him!” _

Kili rolled his eyes and offered him the phone. “Here!”

“What?” He protested. “I don’t want to see your dick pics!”

“Very funny. Just tell me that’s not real.”

Gimli looked at the screen. “Tauriel, why are you walking around with the stuffed animal off of your bed?”

_ “That’s not a stuffy!”  _ The indignant voice came loud and clear through the phone speaker, making them both wince.  _ “It’s a baby mini-donk and his name’s Huckleberry!” _

Another face shoved its way into view.  _ “You weren’t even there! How would you know anyway?” _

Kili took the phone back. “You and Dez can spend the weekend shoveling horse poop in the desert. I have work to do.”

_ “There’s a lot more to it than just cleaning corrals. There are fences to build, horses to groom, baby donks to play with…” _

Kili had stopped listening and was thumbing through the various pics the girls had posted. Tauriel holding a baby baby mini-donkey in her arms for the vet, Demelza surrounded by horses while she handed out cookies… Kili paused at a picture of a blond man wearing faded jeans and a blue chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He was stroking the face of a small white horse with blue eyes. 

_ “Are you even listening to me?” _

Kili was oblivious to the voice as he stared at the handsome man on the screen. He had what would once have been called a rugged profile with short blond hair and a measure of stubble across his jaw and chin. But it was the dimples that had Kili completely distracted, framing the man’s smile and making Kili forget all about the conversation he had been having. 

Gimli peered over his shoulder. “Who’s the blond?”

_ “Oh, that’s Fili. His mom owns the ranch.” _

“Oh?” Kili was still staring at the screen.

_ “Yeah, and he’s really nice. He and his mom run everything. So are you guys in for this weekend?” _

“Weekend of what?” 

_ “Volunteer Day at the ranch. They need a lot of help building fences and shelters for the animals.” _

“Yeah,” Kili answered, staring at the phone some more. “We’ll be there.”

_ “Great! I’ll send you the information.”  _

The call disconnected and Gimli narrowed his eyes at Kili. “What did I just get volunteered for?”

 

 

 

**********************

 

 

 

The weekend found Gimli flipping his way through a Thomas Brothers Guide, trying to find the address they were supposed to be at half an hour ago. “I told you we were going the wrong way.”

“I was following the GPS!” Kili retorted. “It said there was a road there!”

“Why didn’t you just follow the girl’s directions?”

_ “Pfffttt….!” _ Kili puffed a curl off of his forehead. “They don’t know how to take shortcuts.”

“Neither do we, evidently. Turn right here.” Fortunately Kili’s uncle had insisted on buying the heavy map book when Kili bought his first car and made him carry it in the pocket behind the seat. After another ten minutes of dusty roads they found a small community of ranch properties and a gate with a sign that read  _ Flying Angel Ranch. _

“This is it! I told you we weren’t lost!” Kili pulled in the long drive and followed it until he saw Tauriel’s car.

Walking the rest of the way to the house they passed a large pasture and many large corrals with shelters and feed and water tubs. The pasture was full of horses of various colors, all who seemed to be interested in following the volunteers around. Some of the corrals held only a few horses and one held a small herd of little donkeys and ponies. That’s where they found Tauriel and Demelza with rakes in hand, several small, long-eared fuzzballs nosing through their gear.

“Hey!” Dez waved them over. 

“Did you get lost?  _ Hey!” _ Tauriel lost a glove to a furry grey burro who pranced off victoriously with it. 

“Kili took a shortcut,” Gimli rumbled, scritching a patchwork pony on the rump.

“No, the GPS was wrong!” Kili protested. 

“GPS doesn’t work out here,” said a voice from behind them. They turned to see a handsome, middle aged woman with a tumble of long dark hair walking up from the house, a white german shepherd dog at her heels. She was holding an orange bucket under her arms that immediately drew the attention of the four-legged members of the party.

She held out her hand. “I’m Dis. Welcome to the Flying Angel.”

“Gimli!” Gimli shook her hand, careful with her gentle grip. “And this here’s my directionally-challenged friend, Kili.”

“Thanks for volunteering,” she took Kili’s hand and he felt the genuine warmth in her touch. “Do either of you have any experience with horses?”

“Not since I was little,” Kili answered. “My grandpa had a farm and I used to ride his old horses around the pasture.”

“But we’re good with tools!” Asserted Gimli.

Dis smiled. “We have a shortage of help in that department.” She handed the bucket off to Tauriel and led them around to where two men were digging with post hole diggers. “Boys, I brought you some help!” 

The men both looked up at the sound of her voice. Kili’s stomach lurched when the younger of the two set his work aside and looked straight at him and smiled, his dimples and clear blue eyes more intense than the image on his phone gave away. The older man stepped forward and offered his hand. “Glad to hear it. I’m Frerin, and this is my nephew Fili.”

Introductions made Frerin directed them to a bucket of supplies and several post hole diggers sitting on the ground. “Grab some gloves if you don’t have a pair. We’re putting up some private pens to give pregnant mares a place to foal away from the other horses. We need a post every spot you see a red marker.”

Kili and Gimli looked down into the bucket marked  _ GLOVES  _ and then at each other.

“Who gets the pink ones?”

“You do, Mr. GPS!”

They glared at each other for a moment and then Gimli held his fist out. 

“Crap!” Kili muttered. “I always lose at this.  _ One, two…” _

Kili momentarily contemplated not wearing gloves at all but common sense overruled that when the thought of the blisters that would be happening made him change his mind. They spent the next few hours raising pre-fab pipe-fencing to make four rectangular pens with a corrugated metal roof for shade. By the time they put up plywood panels to keep the foals from sliding out through the bottom of the fence they were hot, tired and in need of a break.

“That looks great you guys!” Dis came walking up with a camera in her hand. “Let me get some pictures and you can come up to the house for lunch.”

The four of them posed in a manly fashion in front of their work, Kili tossing his gloves aside. “These are going up on our Facebook page tomorrow,” she reviewed her snaps in the viewfinder. “Come inside and cool off.”

Kili followed her up towards the house and Fili fell into step next to him. “You did pretty good putting that roof on.”

“Thanks!” Kili looked away momentarily to hide the way his cheeks were coloring. “I have experience.”

That got him a pair of raised eyebrows. “Oh?”

“I mean…” he coughed. “My uncle has a construction business and I help out in the summer.”

Fili laughed. “What’s he build?”

“He buys houses, rehabs and sells them. It’s a good business if you know what you’re doing.”

“Like that show on tv?” Frerin asked.

“Actually it’s a lot harder than they show on tv,” Kili answered. “He buys a lot of properties from other flippers. They get the house torn apart and run out of money.”

“What about you?” Frerin asked Gimli. “You also in construction?”

“My old man’s a plumber - lays new copper pipe. I’ve been going on jobs with him since I was big enough to lift his tool belt.” He shook his head. “Guess it’s in the blood. You?”

“Sound engineer,” answered Frerin. “I run the mix for recording artists.”

“Really? That’s pretty cool!”

Kili looked back at Fili. “What about you?”

“Vet school,” Fili answered. “Large animal veterinarian.”

“I bet that comes in handy.”

Fili shook his head. “The only thing I’m qualified to do is treat minor cuts and give cow enemas.”

“And that’s an appetizing thought!” Laughed Frerin.

“No enema talk at my table, please.” Dis ushered them inside. “Wash your hands and have a seat.”

The four scrubbed the dirt off of their hands, forearms and faces and scraped the dirt out from under their fingernails. Dis had a large kitchen table and fed people constantly, showing her love with cold fried chicken and lemonade over ice. 

“Mmph, good!” Kili tried to remember his manners with his mouth full of potato salad and homemade chicken.

Frerin laughed. “That’s how she gets us to work for her. You keep coming back for the food.”

“I have no problem with that,” Gimli toasted is host. “We’ll work for food!” 

After lunch they went out to look at the horses while Dis fed the volunteers in shifts. Kili leaned over to let a tiny donkey snuffle his hand. “Where did they come from?”

“Everywhere,” Fili answered. “My parent’s riding horses are in the big pasture. They’re really old now. Some of them come from animal control, some their owners fell on hard times, a few came to us after their owners passed away.”

“Most of the pregnant mares came off of feedlots,” commented Frerin. 

Gimli looked at the small group of very round mares in their own corral. “What’s that?”

“A place horses go to wait until they’re shipped off to slaughter.” Frerin’s face was dark.

“Is that even legal?” Kili protested.

“Not in the US, but it is in Canada and Mexico. Horses get shipped out of the country every day.” They stopped at the fence to look at the mares. “These mares have never really been handled. They don’t trust us and wouldn’t stand a chance of finding a family at auction even though they’re young and healthy. We’ll watch them until they start to bag up and then put them in the private corrals so we can be there when they foal, just in case.”

“Can you tell when it’s going to happen?” Asked Kili.

“Never!” Fili laughed, and it made Kili’s tummy flop over. “They always sneak the baby out when you’re not looking. Sometimes we have to sit out here all night when they start getting restless.”

“I could set up a night vision camera that you could watch from inside the house,” suggested Gimli.

“Really?” Frerin patted him on the back. “Welcome to the family!”

They moved over the big pasture, where the girls were spraying the hose over the fence while several of the horses played in the water. It was obvious even to the untrained eye that while most of the horses were actually quite healthy, some of them were never going to be ridden again.

Kili turned to Fili and asked, “Are all the horses here up for adoption?”

“Well, to be honest, some of these are what we consider to be permanent residents.” Fili pointed out a few. “Can’t be ridden or too special needs for other people to care for. They become pasture puffs, good companion animals.”

Just then one of the horses grabbed the hose in his mouth and started shaking it around, spraying everyone with water and making the girls scream. “Speaking of special needs…” Fili walked over and wrestled the hose back, getting a face full of water for his troubles. Frerin bent over with laughter, making him the next target for a good soaking and then everyone got it. When the horseplay settled down Fili handed the hose back to Dez. “See if you can fill up all the water barrels for me. I’m going to show your friends the rest of the ranch.”

“Will do!” The girls turned back to the task at hand but not before Tauriel gave Kili a wink that made him blush. 

“We were fortunate to be able to get a wide-open property like this,” Frerin continued narrating. “Having the pasture and the large corrals means were can put the horses into their natural social groups - into the herd where they can actually live like horses do. It gives them time to heal from whatever bad experiences brought them to us.” 

As he spoke a large mare with silver dapples approached the fence and regarded them seriously. Fili reached out and let her sniff his hand before stroking the side of her face. Unlike the other horses she didn’t beg for treats or offer to play, and after a few moments of petting she turned and strolled off. 

Kili watched her go. “She’s pretty.”

“She is,” commented Fili. “When she came to us she’d probably never been handled before. She’s just now getting to the place where she wants to come check us out.”

“Unlike these moochers!” Declared Frerin as several of the older residents of the pasture ambled over to see if they had treats. They all leaned over and scritched through rough winter coats while the horses nosed at their pockets and nibbled at them through the fence. 

“How soon do you need that camera set up?” Gimli asked.

“How soon can you do it?” Asked Frerin.

“We can be back out here in two weeks with everything I need to do it.”

Fili turned to Kili. “You coming back?”

Kili felt the top of his ears turning pink. “Yeah, I’ll be here.” 

The dimpled smile Fili gave him made Kili turn away before the others could see how pleased that smile made him. “Cool.” 

 

 

_\- To Be Continued -_

  
  
  
  
  
_My Horse Rescue & Adoption Blog on Tumblr: [No Horse Unwanted](http://nohorseunwanted.tumblr.com/)_

My Personal Blog: [WithywindlesDaughter](http://withywindlesdaughter.tumblr.com/)

My Writing Blog: [WithywindlesWriting](http://withywindleswriting.tumblr.com/)

 

 

 


	2. “On A Score of One to Nine”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili and Fili get closer and the baby arrives!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just another little chapter in this little story. Some light romance and horse rescue.

  
  
  
  


 

 

**Flying Angel Ranch**

**Ch 2: “On A Score of One to Nine”**

**for** [ **mayyourbeardnevergrowthin** ](http://mayyourbeardnevergrowthin.tumblr.com/)

**by WithywindlesDaughter**

  
  
  


 

 

 

_“Tilt it up a little”_

Kili tilted the camera up slightly per the instructions coming over his phone. Gimli was inside the house at Dis’ computer calling out instruction on the alignment of the _“foal cam”_ as they were calling it. Dis would be able to check on the mare without having to walk back and forth all the time, and she could take screenshots for their page.

Fili was admiring the view from where he was holding the ladder steady on the ground. It hadn’t escaped him that their newest volunteer was a very attractive young man and his t-shirt was riding up on his belly as he reached for the camera revealing a furry patch that just begged for attention. He quickly looked away. My, his mother’s geraniums needed watering!

_“That’s it - right there.”_

Kili grabbed the screwdriver in his left hand and carefully tightened the mount, then secured the clear plastic shield over it. “All done!”

“Great!” Fili answered. “This is going to help a lot.”

Kili climbed down, shoving his phone back into his pocket. He had bought himself a new pair of leather work gloves, and discreetly penned his name, _Kili,_ inside each one, just in case Gimli had thoughts of “borrowing” them. He looked at the covered pens - now complete with feeders and water tubs, and wondered aloud how they were going to get the mares in there. “I mean, if they won’t let you handle them will you be able to lead them in?”

“That’s a good question,” Fili repled. “We don’t want to stress them by forcing a halter on them. Hey, Mom?”

Dis was just walking out, Frerin and Gimli following at a distance as they were deep in discussion about music. “Yes, my little cub?”

Fili blushed at the babyish nickname. “How are we going to get the mares in there?”

His mother put her hands on her hips and scrunched her face up. “Well…”

“We could build a chute,” suggested Frerin.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to drive them.” She looked perplexed. With one mare already bagged up they needed to work out a way to move them before they started giving birth.

I the end they made an improvised “hallway” by holding plywood panels and leading the mare forward with a bucket of grain, and after few false starts she found herself in a roomy private pen with thick bedding on the ground. She was close enough that she could still see and smell the other horses but far enough to be comfortable when the time came. They watched at a little distance as she snuffled around, exploring and pawing at the soft bedding until she finally laid down with a grunt to rest.

“I can’t believe it worked,” whispered Gimli.

“Me neither,” replied Frerin.

“Mission accomplished!” Dis looked both relieved and happy. “If you boys are hungry we have cold roast beef sandwiches and potato salad in the fridge.”

That elicited an enthusiastic response from the young men and they headed towards the house.

“Race you there, little cub!” Kili laughed and dodged as a glove was thrown at him. They trotted in together, laughing and bumping shoulders.

Frerin hung back with Dis. “You’ve got that look on your face.”

“What look would that be?” she asked.

_“The Matchmaking Look.”_

She dusted off her jeans. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He wasn’t going to let her off that easily. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“They are really cute together.”

He put an arm around her shoulders. “I’ll give you that. But he’s a grown man, Dis. You can’t make playdates for him anymore.”

She gave him a sidelong look as if to say she absolutely had planned on that. “I just want him to be happy. You can see how much they like each other.”

“Then let him be happy.” Frerin steered her towards the house. “Let them figure it out. In the meantime, I’m hungry!”

“You’re always hungry!”

“I know! It’s my high metabolism - it requires a lot of fuel.”

“You idiot.”

“Am not…”

  


 

********

  


 

They spent a good amount of the afternoon raking poop and refilling water barrels. It seemed to be a never-ending cycle; as soon as they raked an area the horses made it a point of honor to poop there again. Fili invited Kili for a ride in the little utility vehicle to take grain to some of the animals that needed extra feed. One of these was a pretty little mare, not much bigger than a pony and odd brownish-grey color. She was painfully thin and hobbled around her small enclosure on sore feet. Kili ran his hand along her neck as she ate. He could feel her bones underneath her skin. “Was she sick?”

“We’re not sure.” Fili carefully pulled a tangle from her long mane with practiced fingers. “She came to us from a hoarding situation. Her teeth and her feet were overgrown and she was so starved that vet only gave her a one because he had to give her something.”

“A one what?” Kili watched her swivel her ears around to listen to them talk.

“It’s a way to measure body-condition in horses,” Fili answered. “The scale runs from one to nine and ideally a healthy horse will fall somewhere between four to six. Mimalnaith was so bad off that the vet couldn’t score her on the intake paperwork.”

“I don’t understand who would do this.” Kili looked at the protruding backbone on the little horse.

Fili shook his head sadly. “Someone who thought they were doing the right thing by taking in unwanted animals and ended-up with more than they could care for. They didn’t want to admit to anyone how far in over their head they had gotten and they were afraid that animal control would take them all away. My mother helped convince her to let the rescues come in and take some of the animals off her hands.”

“ _Mimalnaith_ , that means Little Girl, doesn’t it?” Kili watched the strong-yet-gentle hands at work.

“Very good.” A genuine smile brought out the dimples and Kili felt the bottom going out of his stomach. “My mother has a thing for obscure languages.”

Kili forced himself to stop staring at that mouth to turn his attention back to the little horse, who was now nibbling at the cuff of his jeans. “She’s such a sweetheart. You think she wouldn’t want anything to do with people after all that.”

Fili ran his hands over the bony frame. “That’s the thing about horses. They bond to you for better or for worse. You can completely neglect them and they’ll follow you until the day they die of it. She probably still misses the person who did this to her.”

Kili rubbed the little mare’s forehead. “How can I help?”

“It takes time and money,” Fili responded. “We put her on a special refeeding program to get her back to a healthy weight; she needs her feet trimmed, teeth floated, shots, worming - the works. She’s going to be here long-term and if she turns out to be sound, which I think she will, we’ll need to get her to a trainer so she’ll take a saddle and bridle. Then maybe she’ll find her new family.”

He gathered up the empty feed bucket. “Of course, an extra set of hands around the ranch always helps - if you’re interested, that is.”

Kili looked up and found himself looking into eyes the color of the sky and felt his breath catch. _“I’m interested.”_

  


 

***********

  


 

A few weeks later Kili may have regretted that declaration when his phone buzzed on his bedside table at 2:am. He groped blindly for it, possibly regretting having assigned such a distinctive ringtone to the person he now spoke to every day. _“And I fall down I fall down on my knees I fall…”_ He fumbled and dropped it into the sheets before managing to answer. “Hey…”

“Hey!” A voice comes back way too chipper for this hour of the morning. “Are you online?”

“Asleep,” he mumbled, trying to get back down under the blankets.

“Get online and boot up Skype. It’s happening.”

It took a moment for that to sink in. “It’s happening..? Oh! It’s happening!” Kili stumbled out of bed, tripped on something he’d left on the floor and ended-up face-first on the carpet.

On his end Fili tried to stifle a laugh. They had said their goodnights only a few hours before and Kili was a heavy sleeper, but Dis had woken him with the news that the mare in the private pen was getting restless and they were now on foal watch. He saw Kili’s icon appear as he logged on. The brunet was tousled and kitten-faced, his headset slightly askew. “Is she having it now?” he asked.

“She’s been dripping from her bag for a week and tonight she was restless in the pen when my mom went out to check on her.” Fili took a long slurp of coffee. “They like to be sneaky about it and drop when no one is looking.”

Kili yawned and it was more adorable than he would admit. “Shouldn’t you be out there with her? Just in case?”

“We think Sage has been a mother before,” Fili answered. “I don’t think she’ll have any difficulties. She gets nervous when we go out there. She might think we’re going to steal the baby from her. Besides, we have the camera, so we can watch at a distance.”

“Oh yeah!” Kili clicked around with his mouse, calling up the Foal Cam. He could see the mare they called Sage circling her pen, stopping occasionally to paw at the mounds of deep bedding. “What’s she doing?”

“She’ll paw around until she’s ready to start pushing and then she’ll lay down. In the wild mares will leave the herd to give birth and then come back a day later with the new foal.” Fili flicked over to the cam just to make sure she was still on her feet. “This part will take awhile. I suggest you put the coffee on.”

Kili took a few minutes to pad into his kitchenette to run his little coffeemaker and shove a bagel into the toaster. He returned to his desk with a steaming mug and a plate with peanut butter and grape jelly. Fili’s smile lit up when he appeared on the screen. “Hungry already?”

The brunet paused with a mouth full of bagel. “Mupf… always hungry.”

Fili laughed and it was like sunlight. Kili smiled back and it was like the sky opening. They just sat and stared at one another for a few moments until Dis appeared over Fili’s shoulder.

“That’s not the foal cam.”

Fili blushed and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I just checked it. She’s fine.”

She smiled. “Kili, you don’t have to wait up all night for this.”

Kili laughed at the disgruntled look on the blond’s face. Fili attempted to distract his mother. “I thought you were going to make something to eat.”

“Are you hungry?” she answered. “I can make sandwiches.”

“Yes, please that.” Fili waved her off. When he turned back to the screen Kili was just polishing off the last of his bagel. He watch as the younger man licked the spilled jelly off his thumb, completely oblivious as to the effect if was having on the blond.

“What’s she doing now?” Kili asked.

Fili flipped back to the foal cam. Sage had finally come to rest in the far corner of the pen, nested into the bedding and looking as comfortable as her belly would allow. “Looks like she’s going down for the count. We should watch her closely now.”

Kili put the cam up on full screen and started taking screenshots to save for the web page. “This is pretty exciting. I mean, I’ve seen it on Animal Planet but never live like this.”

“It is,” Fili said. “Hopefully by morning we’ll have a healthy baby to fuss over.”

“I wish she hadn’t of picked a school night to do this on.” The brunet’s voice was a little wistful.

“Do you need to go back to bed?” Fili was suddenly reminded that vets kept inconvenient hours.

“No!” Kili’s voice was just a little stroppy. “I just wish I could have been there to help out.”

“Well you’re here with me now,” Fili commented. “It’s going to be a waiting game until she delivers. Once it starts we’ll go out with her, just in case she needs help. But it’s nice that I have your company.”

Dis returned with a grilled cheese sandwich and a deli pickle sliced lengthwise. “Ooo! Thanks mom!” Fili took the plate from here and set it on the desk.

“Where is she now?” She watched the monitor over his shoulder.

“She just went down. We’ll watch for signs that the foal is moving.” Fili chomped on a crisp slice of pickle.

“How can you be so calm about it?” she asked. “I never could.”

“Do you know how many hours I’ve logged up to my elbows in cow placenta?” That drew twin exclamations from Kili and Dis.

“I’m going to go clean something, thank you!” She patted him and walked off.

“What?” Fili asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

“Cow placenta?”

“I wear gloves.”

“That’s nice to know.”

“Sometimes the cow needs help guiding the baby out. You just slide your arms in and-”

“Oh, look!” Kili interrupted him. “She laid down all the way now.”

Fili watched the monitor, taking another bite of sandwich. “I think the baby’s coming soon. I’m going to switch back to my phone.”

  
  
  


“I can see you on ,” Kili said, trying to keep his voice soft.

Fili leaned on the pipe fencing. “Can you?” He had his handsfree on and phone in his pocket. He shone his mag light in at the mare’s tail end, trying to move slowly so as not to startle her. “I can see the hooves just coming through.”

“I can’t see it on the cam. It’s too far back for that much detail.”

“Here,” Fili pulled out his phone and turned on the camera. “See it now?”

“Omghrd!” Kili sounded very excited. “It’s actually happening!”

Together they watched an impossibly long set of legs emerge and then a long, thin head. The front hooves broke the birth sac and then the rest of the baby slid through to lay in a shaking heap in the deep straw. The mare carefully pushed to her feet and turned to snuffle the baby all over. The whole process had probably taken about twenty minutes. Once she had assured herself of her baby’s scent she started washing the little dark figure in the straw with her rough tongue.

“And there she is,” whispered Dis.

“Is she okay?” Kili asked.

“We’ll tell in a few minutes,” answered Fili. “She has to get up on her feet and start nursing and I have to collect the placenta to make sure it passed correctly. But so far so good.”

“What color is she? How can you tell it’s a girl? What’s her name going to be?”

Fili laughed softly at Kili’s enthusiasm. “We won’t know for awhile what her true color will be, but she looks a lot like her mother, so maybe a pretty bay. It might be a boy, there’s no way to tell until we can get closer and until we do we can’t name her. Just baby for now.”

Sage nickered and nudged at the baby until it started trying to get up, positioning herself so the baby could see her swollen bag. It was hard with legs like stilts and an unsure sense of direction. She made several false starts - first trying her front legs, then trying her back legs. Finally she managed all four legs at the same time and stood with them splayed out, at a loss for what to do. The mare reached out her big head and nudged her forward until she could reach up and grab a teat. The baby nursed enthusiastically for a minute and then went right back down into the straw.

“She didn’t eat very much. Is that enough? Will she eat more?” Kili’s was the voice of worry and Fili just wanted to hug him.

  
  


Dis decided she wouldn’t be able to sleep for the rest of the night and volunteered to stay up watching the new foal on the computer in the office so Fili took his phone and climbed up into his bed. “This has been really cool.”

“Watching the baby being born? Yeah!” Kili was on top of his blankets in his boxers and t-shirt, completely unaware of the eyeful he was giving the man on the other end of the line.

“So, you guys coming out this weekend?” Fili asked hopefully.

“Gimli has to work with his dad but I can come.” He watched Fili lean back against his pillows.

“Cool.” Fili’s voice was tired. “We can go riding if you like. Go out and see some of the trails. It’d be a nice change.”

“That would be nice,” Kili replied softly, thinking of what it would be like to finally be somewhere with the blond alone. Suddenly he was glad the phone only captured his face and shoulders.

“We have a couple of older trail horses that my mom and uncle ride,” Fili’s voice was warm. His thoughts were interrupted by a yawn. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Kili said. “You’ve been up on foal watch all night.”

Fili closed his eyes and nodded. “Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Talk to you tomorrow.” Kili swiped his thumb across his screen and pulled his blankets up, thoughts of golden hair and dimples following him into his dreams.

 

  
  
  
  
  
\- TBC -

 

 

 

Mimal = little

Naith = girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the horse rescue stuff posted here is real. You can help. Most rescues that are registered charities accept donations of cash or things like halters, blankets, etc. They also hold volunteer days or you can just follow them on FB and reblog their posts, encouraging people to adopt their available animals.
> 
> http://nohorseunwanted.tumblr.com/post/130650707813/horse-rescue-masterpost

**Author's Note:**

> Horse rescue is a thing and if you follow my blogs on Tumblr you've probably seen a lot of it. All rescues need help - volunteers to help with the animals and the chores and donations of gear and money no amount too small. 
> 
> On my horse rescue blog you'll find a masterpost of horse rescue and adoption charities that have pages on Facebook. Pick one close to you or one that touches your heart, they all need help.
> 
> Thank you to TheGreenSorceress for keeping me on track! 
> 
> Thank you for reading. As always, comments are food for a writer's soul and keep us writing more!!!


End file.
